Plot
The plot in the story and the movie hardly anything at all in common, except for the fact that he ages backwards in both. The only other comparison I can make is the fact that his father is disgusted by him in the beginning, but in the movie, unlike the story, the father puts him on the stairs of someone's house, which brings the whole new plotline into play. In the movie, the audience gets to know Benjamin better, because we see actual events take place that helped shape his life and make him the man (or baby?) that he turned out to be. Benjamin accepts the fact that he is different, but in the movie, he shows more alarm about what will happen to the people in his life as he grows younger. This difference makes Benjamin more personable; therefore, people can relate to him more. I think the way the movie expands the events in his life makes it more entertaining and enjoyable than the story.
Point of View
Unlike the story, most of the movie is told in first person point of view, although Caroline is reading it from his diary. Since Benjamin is telling the story, we are able to see how he feels during the different points in his life, which allows us to empathize with him. It seems as though he grows weaker with the age reversal, especially at the point where he is no longer able to tell his own story and Queenie has to take over. It shows how he becomes more dependent. I think it would have been quite interesting to hear his feelings as he was about and going through dimensia, because we just saw him get really upset and angry about forgetting things. His incompetence and vulnerability shine through at from this point forward, which make me, for one, feel bad for him. I guess that in "regular" growth, become become more feeble towards the end of their lives as well. I think that hearing the story in the first person point of view makes the story more relatable for people.
Characterization
Once again, there are four main characters, but they are not the same as the story, in exception to Benjamin, of course, and his father. In my opinion, the characters that play the most important roles in his life are Queenie and Daisy. Queenie is Benjamin's mother figure in the movie. Contradicting the story where Benjamin has only a father figure that we hear about, in the movie, we only hear about his mother figure. You can see Benjamin's love and obedience in his relationship with his mother. I think that his relationship with Daisy is the one that is most relatable for the audience. Just like every romantic relationship, theirs is difficult, but in a special way, because they are so far apart in age for the majority of their lives. They have a connection from the beginning, which captures the audience's attention, because it is so peculiar to see a young girl and an old man playing in a tent made up of sheets telling secrets. Benjamin's relationship with his father shows his forgiving side, because when his father reveals to him that he is actually his father, Benjamin surely has the right to be upset, but accepts this trespass made against him. I think the movie makes it easier for us to better understand the characters, just because of the length difference.
Setting
Once again, nothing is the same... about the setting this time. It is set in New Orleans, Louisiana several years after the story. The Civil War was a conflict in the story, while Benjamin is involved in WWII in the movie and the woman that raises him is a black woman. I think that the setting changed to New Orleans to make it more up to date and understandable for people. Also, New Orleans is a crazy place, where something strange like a baby born as an old man seems more likely than in Baltimore, Maryland. At the beginning of the movie, we are shown a clock that is built where the hands go backwards instead of forward like a regular clock. This clock symbolizes the life of Benjamin, and ironically breaks and is taken down right around the time when Benjamin dies.
Theme
The theme of the movie and the story are basically opposites: trying to fit in vs. accepting your differences. From the very beginning of the movie, Queenie knows that Benjamin is different and does not treat him differently than any other person. She raises him knowing that it is okay to be different, so Benjamin accepts it. There is a comparison in a different theme I could make though, nothing lasts forever. In both, the movie and the story, Benjamin is faced with the difficult struggle of realizing that he cannot keep many friends for long, because the age difference separates them. However, in the movie, he is able to stay close with Queenie until she dies, and Daisy until he dies.
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